Practice batting device



1956 D. L. BROWN PRACTICE BATTING DEVICE Filed Jan. 18, 1954 Dona/ d L Brawn I N VEN TOR.

PRACTICE BATTING DEVICE Donald Loughlin Brown, Downey, Calif. Application January 18, 1954, Serial No. 404,639 1 Claim. (Cl. 273-26) This invention relates in general to improvements in sporting equipment, and more specifically to a practice batting device.

Although there have been devised from time to time numerous devices intended for use as practice batting devices, all such devices have been intended to be permanently mounted on a stand whereby a batter may swing at a relatively stationary ball. While these types of practice batting devices do permit the player practicing his batting swing to efifectively meet the ball, it does not give the batter any practice as to a movable ball.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide an improved practice batting device which may be held in ones hand and which may be moved so as to vary the stationary ball carried thereby so as to give a person practicing batting a variable target.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved practice batting device which is extremely light and portable so that it may be carried from place to place as desired.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved practice batting device which is extremely simple in construction and which is formed of readily obtainable material so as to be economically feasible.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved practice batting device which is extremely resilient so that a relatively great force imparted to a baseball or the like by a batter may be quickly taken up by the resilient supporting means for the ball and so that a minimum of force will be transmitted to the holder of the practice batting device.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the practice batting device in use;

Figure 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the practice batting device of Figure 1 and shows the general construction thereof, a portion of the resilient member thereof being broken and shown in section in order to clearly illustrate the relationship of the rod carried therein to limit the flexing thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse horizontal sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 33 of Figure 2 and shows the general cross section of the lower portion of the practice batting device, the ball being omitted for purposes of clarity; and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 44 of Figure 1 and shows the general construction of the practice batting device in the area of the grip member thereof, the ball being omitted for purposes of clarity.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated a practice batting device which is the subject of this invention, the practice batting device being referred to in general by the reference numeral 10. The practice batting device includes a vertical, elongated handle or grip member 12 which is in the form of a conventional bicycle grip having an axial bore open at its lower end. Rigidly secured in the bore of the grip 2,765,170 Fatented Oct. 2, 1956 member 12 is an upper end of an elongated flexible member in the form of a helical spring 14. Carried by the lower end of the spring 14 is a swivel 16 which is connected to an eye 18 integral with the spring 14. The swivel 16 is also connected to an eye 20 of an eye fastener 22 which passes through a practice ball 24. It will be noted that the ball 24 has been illustrated as a baseball. It will be understood that the patricular rela tionship of the swivel 16 with respect to the eyes 18 and 29 results in the swivel mounting of the ball 24 with respect to the resilient member.

In order to limit flexing of the spring 14, there is provided a stfi elongated rod 26. The rod 26 is mounted in the member 12 and extends through the spring 14 and permits flexing at the lower end thereof only.

Referring now to Figure 4 in particular, it will be seen that disposed within the grip member 12 and within the confines of the extreme upper end of the spring 14 is a spacer 28. The spacer 28 is tubular and surrounds the upper end of the rod 26 Within the handle or grip member 12. Thus it will be seen that the spacer 28 wedgedly retains the upper end of the spring 14 within the confines of the grip member 12 and at the same time positions the rod 26 with respect to the grip member 12 and the spring 14.

Referring now to Figure 1 in particular, it will be seen that the practice batting device 10 is being utilized by a player 30 while being held by a second player 32. The second player 32 grabs the grip member 12 of the practice batting device 10 and retains it in a vertical position with the ball 24 suspended at the lower end thereof. Then the player 30 swings a bat 34 and strikes the ball 24 to improve his batting swing. If so desired, the ball 24 may be moved in a gentle curving path by the player 32 so as to simulate actual playing conditions.

While the ball 24 has been illustrated and described as a baseball, it will be understood that the invention is not intended to be so limited. If desired, the ball 24 may be in the form of a tennis ball or other type of ball which is intended to be struck in order to permit practicing such a game with such a device.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

A practice batting device comprising: a vertically elongated tubular handle having an axial bore open at its lower end, a helical spring axially mounted in said bore of said handle and depending therefrom, a ball swivelly secured to the lower end of said spring, a stiff rod mounted in the handle and extending through the spring in spaced, concentric relation thereto for limiting the flexing thereof and terminating in spaced relation above the lower end of said spring, and a tubular member surrounding the upper end portion of the rod within the handle for securing same in the spring and for securing said spring in the handle by tight fit therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,967,355 Edwards July 24, 1934 2,082,272 Zinnok June 1, 1937 2,186,016 Evans Jan. 9, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS 415,836 Great Britain Sept. 6, 1934 

